Jo Jung-Rae has devoted his entire life to literature. His writings attain an excellence that marks him as a world-class author. His popular multi-volume novels Taebaek Mountain Range and Arirang, which have become modern classics since their publication in the 1980s, are considered the epitome of his talent. With the publication of Han River in 2002, Jo completed his trilogy of works on Korean modern history. Sales reached a record-breaking number in Korea—over 10,000,000 copies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo\_Jung-rae